Audience Advocacy and Thought Leadership | Cristina Loughrey | 446

Does your thought leadership content focus on hyping your organization or brand, or are you weaving stories where your audience can picture themselves as the hero? If the second option isn't your answer - you may be doing it wrong! Thought leadership can ensure you connect with the right audience in a meaningful way. Focusing on your audience and creating content that forges a genuine connection is one of thought leadership's strengths - but to utilize it properly, you have to know how to tell the story. Cristina Loughrey is a narrative architect and content strategist with 15+ years of experience in marketing, communications, and experiential marketing (events). She has multiple degrees in rhetoric, sociolinguistics, and analyzing societal narratives in popular American culture. Cristina addresses audience advocacy, and why it's important that the audience you want can see themselves in the story of your brand. Building that connection makes your relationship with the audience stronger. Cristina provides us with a deep understanding about how we should think about our audience, and how to find ways to speak to their hearts and minds. Cristina goes on to discuss why you need to provide room for your audience to relate and connect, and how to use storytelling to put the audience right in the middle of your content. By telling the story in a way that connects, the audience begins to see themselves as the hero of the story - and that engages them in a more dynamic way. With social media data, we no longer need to "write into the void," just hoping our message hits the audience in the right way. Cristina shares why she focuses on qualitative over quantitative data, allowing that information to inform the construction of stories that are deeply relevant to the audience. If you've been dishing out content but don't feel like your message is being heard, this episode can help you fine-tune your story and engage your audience. Three Key Takeaways: * When seeking to grab the attention of your audience the meaning of your message needs to be in the first few opening sentences. * Telling an interesting story isn't enough. You need to present it from the viewpoint of the audience, ensuring it gives them value for their time. * Don't look for an immediate payoff using thought leadership. It takes time and consistency to build trust.